Summit in Granada + New commissioners + • Table.Briefings

Dear reader,

Early next week, the French and German cabinets will meet near Hamburg for a joint closed-door meeting. It is intended to be as open an exchange of ideas as possible, without long follow-up statements as at the recent Council of Ministers. In order not to burden the meeting, government representatives in Berlin and Paris are trying to iron out some of the many differences of opinion in advance.

These include, in addition to the joint battle tank project, energy policy. “We need a major negotiated settlement”, State Secretary for Economic Affairs Sven Giegold told Financial Times. For months, the two governments have been at odds over parts of the electricity market reform: the German government warns that Paris wants to give its industry a competitive advantage via subsidized electricity prices from its old nuclear power plants. Whether the issue can be cleared up by the time of the joint cabinet meeting or by the Energy Council on Oct. 17 is completely unclear, according to those involved.

But the search for possible compromises is in full swing. After France and some allied states, Germany and Italy are now preparing a joint proposal, which Table.Media has obtained. In it, Berlin and Rome propose three options for how existing nuclear power plants could be subsidized in the event of lifetime extensions via so-called Contracts for Difference (CfDs). In this way, the investments incurred could be promoted and at the same time, distortions of competition avoided, according to the paper.

It remains to be seen whether this will bring the two sides closer together.

Your
Till Hoppe

Double summit in Granada starts under unfavorable omens

The new format of the European Political Community (EPC), once initiated by French President Macron, seems to be taking root. After meetings in Prague and Chişinău, nearly 50 heads of state and government are meeting today in Granada for the third EPC summit. The schedule is again similar, with a half-hour opening plenary session led by host Spain. After that, there will be further discussions in four smaller working groups on digitization, artificial intelligence, multilateralism, and energy and the environment. A kind of brainstorming at executive level, but rather without concrete results.

Diplomats say that the heads of state and government appreciated the relaxed and informal format, without the pressure of having to agree on conclusions at the end. But the added value of the new format is probably also due to the fact that relatively much time is reserved for bilateral talks in the afternoon. Here, however, the omens are unfavorable this time. Actually, a four-way meeting between Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and Armenia’s head of government Nikol Pashinyan was planned, assisted by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and President Emmanuel Macron. However, Ilham Aliyev canceled his participation at short notice, according to the Azerbaijani news agency APA.

Aliyev: ‘anti-Azerbaijani mood’

The president will not go to Granada because of the “anti-Azerbaijani mood” of the other summit participants, the news agency reports. In Baku, the visit of French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna is said to have gone down particularly badly. In Yerevan, the French chief diplomat had condemned Azerbaijan for the expulsion of Karabakh Armenians and held out the prospect of arms deliveries to Armenia.

The EPC’s new format could possibly reach its limits. In addition to Nagorno-Karabakh, the latest escalation between Serbia and Kosovo is also likely to be the focus of attention in Granada. Here, too, it was unclear until the last minute whether a planned bilateral meeting between Serbia’s President Alexander Vučić and Kosovo’s President Vjosa Osmani would take place. At the last EPC summit, Vučić is said to have insulted the Kosovar woman in particular. This time, the two opponents at least want to meet again.

Agreement on crisis regulation facilitates meeting

The omens are better for the informal EU summit on Friday, with enlargement and migration as the main topics. The dispute over the blockade of the so-called crisis regulation threatened to dominate the meeting in Granada. After the agreement in the Permanent Representatives Committee on a common position on the very same regulation, negotiations with the EU Parliament on asylum reform can now be pushed forward. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described the agreement on the core element of the planned asylum reform as a “real game changer“.

The crisis regulation provides that in the event of a particularly sharp increase in migration, a larger group of migrants and asylum seekers would have to wait longer under detention-like conditions for a decision in the planned stricter border procedure. According to diplomats, the crisis can now also be declared if particularly large numbers of migrants come ashore due to private sea rescue operations. Italy had pressed for corresponding formulations.

‘Granada Declaration’: the enlargement question

The heads of state and government are to adopt the so-called “Granada Declaration” at the informal summit. First and foremost there is the so-called strategic agenda with the priorities for the next year and with an outlook for the next legislative period. The pandemic and Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine have put the EU’s resilience to the test, the draft says. The EU has reduced its dependencies and diversified its supplies, but more needs to be done for a competitive Europe, it says.

Prominent mention is also made of enlargement: “Enlargement is a geostrategic investment in peace, security, stability and prosperity“, the draft states. Berlin hopes above all that the informal EU summit will link the process of EU enlargement to a parallel process of reforming the EU institutions. Chancellor Olaf Scholz had publicly insisted on this several times.

Concessions to Berlin

The German government is very pleased with the current draft of the summit declaration. It says: “In view of the prospect of further enlargement of the Union, both the EU and the future member states must be ready.” The candidate countries must step up their reform efforts. “In parallel, the Union must create the necessary internal conditions to make the Union fit for enlargement.”

According to a high-ranking EU diplomat, Granada is to provide the impetus for a discussion process. The first step is to identify which policy areas would be affected by enlargement. There is much more at stake than just the common agricultural policy. According to calculations by Council experts, under current budget rules, Ukraine alone would be entitled to €186 billion from the seven-year EU budget as a member. By Stephan Israel and Till Hoppe

Hoekstra and Šefčovič: Environment Committee ends stalemate

By

Lukas Knigge

The saga surrounding the two designated successors to Frans Timmermans is over. The Environment Committee of the EU Parliament (ENVI) has approved by a majority the appointment of Wopke Hoekstra as Climate Commissioner and Maroš Šefčovič as Green Deal Commissioner. The final vote in plenary will take place today, Thursday, around 12 noon in Strasbourg. However, approval is considered certain as only a simple majority is needed.

The additional written answers that MEPs had requested as late as Tuesday had convinced the EPP, S&D, Renew and Green groups, explained ENVI Chairman Pascal Canfin (Renew). Thus, the necessary two-thirds majority was achieved. ECR, Left and ID voted against both candidates.

Loss & Damage: USA and China to pay more

Hoekstra promised in his additional answers to disclose a list of his projects and clients during his time as a McKinsey consultant. The deputies had demanded this and he had already promised it verbally at his hearing. However, his other former employer Shell or other oil companies were not included, the Dutchman repeatedly clarified.

In addition, Hoekstra went into more detail about how he plans to advocate for more funding for international climate finance, particularly for loss and damage, during the UN Climate Change Conference in Dubai in December (COP28). He said he wants to see an expansion of CO2 pricing worldwide, as well as a global aviation tax, the revenue from which would also fund loss and damage.

“However, I don’t think the EU should be the only one to further increase its contribution, especially since we are already a big contributor.” All other major emitters in a position to do so – “from the US to the United Arab Emirates to China” – should contribute a larger and fairer share of climate finance, Hoekstra urged. He also announced his intention to push for an accelerated end to fossil fuel subsidies in EU countries and to achieve global climate goals without CCS.

REACH probably off the table

After Šefčovič’s hearing in the ENVI on Tuesday morning, apart from the S&D Group, no one was yet convinced of the Slovak’s performance. Therefore, his additional answers were awaited with particular excitement. The MEPs had demanded more concrete information on the Commission’s pending legislative proposals before the end of the legislature. Now it is clear: The proposal to curb microplastics will still come in October, the forest monitoring law in November and new rules for animal transport in December.

Much more decisive, however, is what is not on the list. Preparations for the EU chemicals regulation REACH are continuing, Šefčovič writes, but does not give a date. This should make it clear that the revision of REACH, long-awaited by environmentalists, will not come this year, and in all likelihood not before the European elections in June. The proposal for sustainable food systems is also still being “prepared” and is therefore likely to be off the table for this Commission.

For the climate policy spokesman of the EPP, Peter Liese, this is good news. If Šefčovič had fulfilled the entire “Green wish list” and given a date for REACH, his group would have had problems with his appointment, Liese said on Wednesday.

Only the minimum for the Green Deal

This also makes it clear which path the Commission is taking on the Green Deal. Admittedly, the EPP did not get the legislative moratorium it demanded for new climate and environmental requirements, and Hoekstra and Šefčovič also backed ambitious rules for restoring nature in the dispute over the renaturation law. However, the rest of the Commission’s Green Deal program has been significantly weakened, which is likely to please the EPP, farmers, and industry in particular.

The REACH revision, which was supposed to have come last year but was postponed due to pressure from the EPP, is not the only sign of this. The announced new rules for animal transport were originally to be much broader and also include new requirements for animal welfare in stables. The Commission has now moved away from this. The proposal for sustainable food systems would also have affected the agricultural industry in particular. It will now be spared further requirements.

Greens and S&D celebrate victory on 2040 climate goal

The S&D Group and the Greens see themselves as winners of the extended questioning of Hoekstra and Šefčovič, despite the Commission’s significantly weakened Green Deal program. This is mainly due to the clear commitment of the two to a 2040 climate target of at least 90 percent CO2 reduction. They will be judged on this promise, announced Tiemo Wölken (SPD), environmental policy spokesman for the S&D parliamentary group.

It is an “ambitious package that the commissioners must implement”, commented Green Party politician Bas Eickhout. For example, he said, there should be an investigation into how many fossil fuel subsidies there are in the EU and how to stop them. “After years of struggle, we are now really at the top of the European political agenda.”

EPP member Liese, on the other hand, is not at all enthusiastic about the Commission’s clear stance. Since there is as yet no official position of the Parliament, let alone the Environment Committee, on the 2040 climate target, he views the insistence of some of his colleagues on a commitment by the commissioners-designate with skepticism. He also considers the target of minus 90 percent CO2 reduction to be premature in view of the consultations that have not yet been completed.

EU begins investigation of EVs

The European Commission has begun the announced investigation into state subsidies for Chinese EVs. The reason given for this is that corresponding imports are damaging the economy of the EU. The EU Commission has “collected sufficient evidence showing that producers of the product under investigation originating in the People’s Republic of China are receiving various subsidies from the Chinese government”, according to the announcement. Accordingly, the Brussels authority assumes the existence of various subsidies:

direct transfers of money and liabilities
revenue foregone
non-collection of charges such as taxes
goods or services at cheaper prices

There was also evidence of, among other things, “various grants, granting of loans, export credits and credit lines by state-owned banks or bonds“, the EU Commission writes.

Sampling

According to the commission’s data, Chinese EVs are typically about 20 percent cheaper than EU-made models. The subsidy and injury investigation will be conducted on a random basis and will cover the period from Oct. 1, 2022, to Sept. 30, 2023, the notice said. The investigation may result in punitive tariffs being imposed on the Chinese EVs.

The Ministry of Commerce in Beijing criticized the move. The EU is acting on purely subjective assumptions and not according to World Trade Organization rules, a spokesman said Wednesday. “The EU has demanded China to conduct negotiations in a very short time and failed to provide documents for the negotiations, which seriously violates the rights of the Chinese side”, the agency added.

The ministry called on the EU to create a fair environment for the development of the China-Europe EV industry. China will closely monitor the investigation and protect the rights of its enterprises, the spokesman said. ari

Commission adopts first cycling strategy

“Cycling is one of the most sustainable, accessible and inclusive, cost-effective and healthy forms of transport and recreation.” That’s what the Commission’s proposal for the EU’s first declaration on cycling says. The declaration is nine pages long and recognizes the importance of cycling for climate protection, health and the national economy.

The preamble states, among other things, that the European wheel industry is globally innovative, that over 1,000 SMEs operate in the industry and already provide more than one million jobs with the potential for more. The declaration consists of eight chapters. Chapter one calls on member states to adopt consistent cycling policies. Companies should, for example, encourage cycling among their workforces through cycle-to-work programs, service e-bikes, sufficient parking for cyclists and the use of delivery services by bicycle.

Target: no fatal bicycle accidents from 2050 onwards

Chapter three calls for improving infrastructure, building more bike lanes including bike highways and a network of charging stations. Chapter five is dedicated to greater cycling safety. By 2030, the number of traffic fatalities and serious injuries is to be halved. By 2050, there should be no more fatal traffic accidents involving cyclists at all. Other chapters are devoted to cycling and tourism, and to cycling data.

Transport politician Anna Deparnay-Grunenberg (Greens) assesses the strategy as follows: “Since the summer of 2022, we have been fighting for the bicycle to be recognized as an equal means of transport at European level.” She said the declaration attests to the great potential of the bicycle. It is the first time that the Commission recognizes the important role of cycling as a means of transport, he said. Nevertheless, Deparnay-Grunenberg is disappointed: “The declaration falls far short of what the Parliament and the member states expected from the Commission.” Instead of a “strategy with binding laws”, there is only a “non-binding declaration of intent”. mgr

Eviden and ParTec build Europe’s first exascale supercomputer

The European supercomputing initiative European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU) and a German-French consortium have signed a contract to build the exascale supercomputer Jupiter. This was announced by EuroHPC JU and Forschungszentrum Jülich.

Jupiter will be Europe’s first exascale-class supercomputer and is scheduled to start work at the Jülich Supercomputing Centre (JSC) in North Rhine-Westphalia as early as 2024. Its field of application: highly computationally intensive simulations and AI applications in science and industry.

The supercomputer is being built by ParTec, a German company, and Eviden, which belongs to the French IT service provider Atos. EuroHPC JU is procuring the supercomputer, and the Jülich Supercomputing Centre will operate it.

EU covers half of the costs of €500 million

The cost of the system and its operation over an expected period of six years amounts to €500 million. Half is being provided by the European Union. Another two quarters are being financed by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the Ministry of Culture and Science of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

The name Jupiter stands for “Joint Undertaking Pioneer for Innovative and Transformative Exascale Research”. According to Forschungszentrum Jülich, the supercomputer will be the first system in Europe with a computing power of more than one exaflop per second. This corresponds to a trillion operations per second or the computing power of ten million modern notebooks, Jülich calculates.

At the end of last year, the EuroHPC JU in Bologna, Italy, saw the launch of the LEONARDO supercomputer with a computing power of 250 petaflops (250 million billion calculations per second). Most recently, the European Commission inaugurated the Deucalion high-performance computing system in Portugal, which has a computing capacity of ten petaflops. vis

Nils Aldag – the hydrogen pioneer

Nils Aldag is head of the Dresden-based company Sunfire, which manufactures electrolyzers for the production of hydrogen.

“I am a realist with a slight tendency toward optimism”, says Nils Aldag. Over the years, however, he has taken on the role of an optimist at Sunfire, says the co-founder and CEO of the Dresden-based electrolysis specialist. This sentence fits the 36-year-old very well. Especially because in 2010, when Sunfire was founded, it still looked as if Aldag and his co-founders were ahead of their time with the topic of green hydrogen. But the tide has since turned: “We are moving in an industry where all arrows are pointing upward”, says the Sunfire CEO. Over the past 24 months, he says, there has been a significant acceleration in the topic of renewable energies.

Then the Hamburg native tells his personal story. He talks about why it is a privilege to come from a family of entrepreneurs. Why, after studying business administration and commercial law, he first sought new perspectives and therefore decided to write his thesis on the subject of renewable energy technologies. And why he came to Sunfire as a “junior” – when Nils Aldag was just 24 years old. He speaks in a punchy, thoughtful manner, with a clear view of the world. And he is extremely modest: “My main concern is to create a sustainable company. I’m not vain, so I don’t care whether this company is still called Sunfire in ten years and whether I’ll still be there as CEO.”

Start-up on the verge of unicorn status

Instead, Aldag has his eye on the big picture. He wants to make Sunfire the “next big success story”. He could be right about that, because the company is already being treated as the hidden champion of the energy transition. After all, the Dresden-based electrolysis specialist has already undergone rapid development – from a start-up to a medium-sized industrial company that, according to media reports, is about to be valued in the billions.

What is Sunfire’s core business? “It’s pretty complex, what we do here. Every machine we build is like a small chemical factory”, says Aldag. Still, he says, the business model can be summed up briefly and understandably: “We build machines – called electrolyzers – that split water into hydrogen and oxygen. To carry out this splitting, we need renewable electricity from sun and wind.”

Green hydrogen as a substitute for crude oil, natural gas and coal

The hydrogen produced with the help of the electrolyzers could be used either in pure form or combined with other molecules to replace everything that is currently produced from crude oil, natural gas and coal. Sunfire’s customers include utilities such as RWE, petroleum companies such as Total, and steel companies such as Salzgitter AG. The ultimate goal is to bring renewable energies everywhere they cannot go in electrical form, thus making natural gas, crude oil and coal superfluous.

What remains at the end of the conversation is this impression: Nils Aldag is not only a pioneer, but also a prototype for a new “green” generation of entrepreneurs. And he is extremely successful. With his company, the founder and entrepreneur is moving into a market that will soon be worth billions. In the EU alone, electrolysis capacities are expected to increase from the current 1,000 megawatts to 40,000 megawatts by 2030. Aldag: “We want to become a champion in this insanely exciting future industry.” Gabriele Voßkühler

EUROPE.TABLE EDITORS

Till
Hoppe

Charlotte
Wirth

Falk
Steiner

Timo
Landenberger

Corinna
Visser

Lukas
Knigge

Eric
Bonse

Sarah
Schaefer

Manuel
Berkel

Lisa-Martina
Klein

Markus
Grabitz

Stephan
Israel

Claire
Stam

Dear reader,

Early next week, the French and German cabinets will meet near Hamburg for a joint closed-door meeting. It is intended to be as open an exchange of ideas as possible, without long follow-up statements as at the recent Council of Ministers. In order not to burden the meeting, government representatives in Berlin and Paris are trying to iron out some of the many differences of opinion in advance.

These include, in addition to the joint battle tank project, energy policy. “We need a major negotiated settlement”, State Secretary for Economic Affairs Sven Giegold told Financial Times. For months, the two governments have been at odds over parts of the electricity market reform: the German government warns that Paris wants to give its industry a competitive advantage via subsidized electricity prices from its old nuclear power plants. Whether the issue can be cleared up by the time of the joint cabinet meeting or by the Energy Council on Oct. 17 is completely unclear, according to those involved.

But the search for possible compromises is in full swing. After France and some allied states, Germany and Italy are now preparing a joint proposal, which Table.Media has obtained. In it, Berlin and Rome propose three options for how existing nuclear power plants could be subsidized in the event of lifetime extensions via so-called Contracts for Difference (CfDs). In this way, the investments incurred could be promoted and at the same time, distortions of competition avoided, according to the paper.

It remains to be seen whether this will bring the two sides closer together.

Your
Till Hoppe

Double summit in Granada starts under unfavorable omens

The new format of the European Political Community (EPC), once initiated by French President Macron, seems to be taking root. After meetings in Prague and Chişinău, nearly 50 heads of state and government are meeting today in Granada for the third EPC summit. The schedule is again similar, with a half-hour opening plenary session led by host Spain. After that, there will be further discussions in four smaller working groups on digitization, artificial intelligence, multilateralism, and energy and the environment. A kind of brainstorming at executive level, but rather without concrete results.

Diplomats say that the heads of state and government appreciated the relaxed and informal format, without the pressure of having to agree on conclusions at the end. But the added value of the new format is probably also due to the fact that relatively much time is reserved for bilateral talks in the afternoon. Here, however, the omens are unfavorable this time. Actually, a four-way meeting between Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and Armenia’s head of government Nikol Pashinyan was planned, assisted by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and President Emmanuel Macron. However, Ilham Aliyev canceled his participation at short notice, according to the Azerbaijani news agency APA.

Aliyev: ‘anti-Azerbaijani mood’

The president will not go to Granada because of the “anti-Azerbaijani mood” of the other summit participants, the news agency reports. In Baku, the visit of French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna is said to have gone down particularly badly. In Yerevan, the French chief diplomat had condemned Azerbaijan for the expulsion of Karabakh Armenians and held out the prospect of arms deliveries to Armenia.

The EPC’s new format could possibly reach its limits. In addition to Nagorno-Karabakh, the latest escalation between Serbia and Kosovo is also likely to be the focus of attention in Granada. Here, too, it was unclear until the last minute whether a planned bilateral meeting between Serbia’s President Alexander Vučić and Kosovo’s President Vjosa Osmani would take place. At the last EPC summit, Vučić is said to have insulted the Kosovar woman in particular. This time, the two opponents at least want to meet again.

Agreement on crisis regulation facilitates meeting

The omens are better for the informal EU summit on Friday, with enlargement and migration as the main topics. The dispute over the blockade of the so-called crisis regulation threatened to dominate the meeting in Granada. After the agreement in the Permanent Representatives Committee on a common position on the very same regulation, negotiations with the EU Parliament on asylum reform can now be pushed forward. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described the agreement on the core element of the planned asylum reform as a “real game changer“.

The crisis regulation provides that in the event of a particularly sharp increase in migration, a larger group of migrants and asylum seekers would have to wait longer under detention-like conditions for a decision in the planned stricter border procedure. According to diplomats, the crisis can now also be declared if particularly large numbers of migrants come ashore due to private sea rescue operations. Italy had pressed for corresponding formulations.

‘Granada Declaration’: the enlargement question

The heads of state and government are to adopt the so-called “Granada Declaration” at the informal summit. First and foremost there is the so-called strategic agenda with the priorities for the next year and with an outlook for the next legislative period. The pandemic and Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine have put the EU’s resilience to the test, the draft says. The EU has reduced its dependencies and diversified its supplies, but more needs to be done for a competitive Europe, it says.

Prominent mention is also made of enlargement: “Enlargement is a geostrategic investment in peace, security, stability and prosperity“, the draft states. Berlin hopes above all that the informal EU summit will link the process of EU enlargement to a parallel process of reforming the EU institutions. Chancellor Olaf Scholz had publicly insisted on this several times.

Concessions to Berlin

The German government is very pleased with the current draft of the summit declaration. It says: “In view of the prospect of further enlargement of the Union, both the EU and the future member states must be ready.” The candidate countries must step up their reform efforts. “In parallel, the Union must create the necessary internal conditions to make the Union fit for enlargement.”

According to a high-ranking EU diplomat, Granada is to provide the impetus for a discussion process. The first step is to identify which policy areas would be affected by enlargement. There is much more at stake than just the common agricultural policy. According to calculations by Council experts, under current budget rules, Ukraine alone would be entitled to €186 billion from the seven-year EU budget as a member. By Stephan Israel and Till Hoppe

Hoekstra and Šefčovič: Environment Committee ends stalemate

By

Lukas Knigge

The saga surrounding the two designated successors to Frans Timmermans is over. The Environment Committee of the EU Parliament (ENVI) has approved by a majority the appointment of Wopke Hoekstra as Climate Commissioner and Maroš Šefčovič as Green Deal Commissioner. The final vote in plenary will take place today, Thursday, around 12 noon in Strasbourg. However, approval is considered certain as only a simple majority is needed.

The additional written answers that MEPs had requested as late as Tuesday had convinced the EPP, S&D, Renew and Green groups, explained ENVI Chairman Pascal Canfin (Renew). Thus, the necessary two-thirds majority was achieved. ECR, Left and ID voted against both candidates.

Loss & Damage: USA and China to pay more

Hoekstra promised in his additional answers to disclose a list of his projects and clients during his time as a McKinsey consultant. The deputies had demanded this and he had already promised it verbally at his hearing. However, his other former employer Shell or other oil companies were not included, the Dutchman repeatedly clarified.

In addition, Hoekstra went into more detail about how he plans to advocate for more funding for international climate finance, particularly for loss and damage, during the UN Climate Change Conference in Dubai in December (COP28). He said he wants to see an expansion of CO2 pricing worldwide, as well as a global aviation tax, the revenue from which would also fund loss and damage.

“However, I don’t think the EU should be the only one to further increase its contribution, especially since we are already a big contributor.” All other major emitters in a position to do so – “from the US to the United Arab Emirates to China” – should contribute a larger and fairer share of climate finance, Hoekstra urged. He also announced his intention to push for an accelerated end to fossil fuel subsidies in EU countries and to achieve global climate goals without CCS.

REACH probably off the table

After Šefčovič’s hearing in the ENVI on Tuesday morning, apart from the S&D Group, no one was yet convinced of the Slovak’s performance. Therefore, his additional answers were awaited with particular excitement. The MEPs had demanded more concrete information on the Commission’s pending legislative proposals before the end of the legislature. Now it is clear: The proposal to curb microplastics will still come in October, the forest monitoring law in November and new rules for animal transport in December.

Much more decisive, however, is what is not on the list. Preparations for the EU chemicals regulation REACH are continuing, Šefčovič writes, but does not give a date. This should make it clear that the revision of REACH, long-awaited by environmentalists, will not come this year, and in all likelihood not before the European elections in June. The proposal for sustainable food systems is also still being “prepared” and is therefore likely to be off the table for this Commission.

For the climate policy spokesman of the EPP, Peter Liese, this is good news. If Šefčovič had fulfilled the entire “Green wish list” and given a date for REACH, his group would have had problems with his appointment, Liese said on Wednesday.

Only the minimum for the Green Deal

This also makes it clear which path the Commission is taking on the Green Deal. Admittedly, the EPP did not get the legislative moratorium it demanded for new climate and environmental requirements, and Hoekstra and Šefčovič also backed ambitious rules for restoring nature in the dispute over the renaturation law. However, the rest of the Commission’s Green Deal program has been significantly weakened, which is likely to please the EPP, farmers, and industry in particular.

The REACH revision, which was supposed to have come last year but was postponed due to pressure from the EPP, is not the only sign of this. The announced new rules for animal transport were originally to be much broader and also include new requirements for animal welfare in stables. The Commission has now moved away from this. The proposal for sustainable food systems would also have affected the agricultural industry in particular. It will now be spared further requirements.

Greens and S&D celebrate victory on 2040 climate goal

The S&D Group and the Greens see themselves as winners of the extended questioning of Hoekstra and Šefčovič, despite the Commission’s significantly weakened Green Deal program. This is mainly due to the clear commitment of the two to a 2040 climate target of at least 90 percent CO2 reduction. They will be judged on this promise, announced Tiemo Wölken (SPD), environmental policy spokesman for the S&D parliamentary group.

It is an “ambitious package that the commissioners must implement”, commented Green Party politician Bas Eickhout. For example, he said, there should be an investigation into how many fossil fuel subsidies there are in the EU and how to stop them. “After years of struggle, we are now really at the top of the European political agenda.”

EPP member Liese, on the other hand, is not at all enthusiastic about the Commission’s clear stance. Since there is as yet no official position of the Parliament, let alone the Environment Committee, on the 2040 climate target, he views the insistence of some of his colleagues on a commitment by the commissioners-designate with skepticism. He also considers the target of minus 90 percent CO2 reduction to be premature in view of the consultations that have not yet been completed.

EU begins investigation of EVs

The European Commission has begun the announced investigation into state subsidies for Chinese EVs. The reason given for this is that corresponding imports are damaging the economy of the EU. The EU Commission has “collected sufficient evidence showing that producers of the product under investigation originating in the People’s Republic of China are receiving various subsidies from the Chinese government”, according to the announcement. Accordingly, the Brussels authority assumes the existence of various subsidies:

direct transfers of money and liabilities
revenue foregone
non-collection of charges such as taxes
goods or services at cheaper prices

There was also evidence of, among other things, “various grants, granting of loans, export credits and credit lines by state-owned banks or bonds“, the EU Commission writes.

Sampling

According to the commission’s data, Chinese EVs are typically about 20 percent cheaper than EU-made models. The subsidy and injury investigation will be conducted on a random basis and will cover the period from Oct. 1, 2022, to Sept. 30, 2023, the notice said. The investigation may result in punitive tariffs being imposed on the Chinese EVs.

The Ministry of Commerce in Beijing criticized the move. The EU is acting on purely subjective assumptions and not according to World Trade Organization rules, a spokesman said Wednesday. “The EU has demanded China to conduct negotiations in a very short time and failed to provide documents for the negotiations, which seriously violates the rights of the Chinese side”, the agency added.

The ministry called on the EU to create a fair environment for the development of the China-Europe EV industry. China will closely monitor the investigation and protect the rights of its enterprises, the spokesman said. ari

Commission adopts first cycling strategy

“Cycling is one of the most sustainable, accessible and inclusive, cost-effective and healthy forms of transport and recreation.” That’s what the Commission’s proposal for the EU’s first declaration on cycling says. The declaration is nine pages long and recognizes the importance of cycling for climate protection, health and the national economy.

The preamble states, among other things, that the European wheel industry is globally innovative, that over 1,000 SMEs operate in the industry and already provide more than one million jobs with the potential for more. The declaration consists of eight chapters. Chapter one calls on member states to adopt consistent cycling policies. Companies should, for example, encourage cycling among their workforces through cycle-to-work programs, service e-bikes, sufficient parking for cyclists and the use of delivery services by bicycle.

Target: no fatal bicycle accidents from 2050 onwards

Chapter three calls for improving infrastructure, building more bike lanes including bike highways and a network of charging stations. Chapter five is dedicated to greater cycling safety. By 2030, the number of traffic fatalities and serious injuries is to be halved. By 2050, there should be no more fatal traffic accidents involving cyclists at all. Other chapters are devoted to cycling and tourism, and to cycling data.

Transport politician Anna Deparnay-Grunenberg (Greens) assesses the strategy as follows: “Since the summer of 2022, we have been fighting for the bicycle to be recognized as an equal means of transport at European level.” She said the declaration attests to the great potential of the bicycle. It is the first time that the Commission recognizes the important role of cycling as a means of transport, he said. Nevertheless, Deparnay-Grunenberg is disappointed: “The declaration falls far short of what the Parliament and the member states expected from the Commission.” Instead of a “strategy with binding laws”, there is only a “non-binding declaration of intent”. mgr

Eviden and ParTec build Europe’s first exascale supercomputer

The European supercomputing initiative European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU) and a German-French consortium have signed a contract to build the exascale supercomputer Jupiter. This was announced by EuroHPC JU and Forschungszentrum Jülich.

Jupiter will be Europe’s first exascale-class supercomputer and is scheduled to start work at the Jülich Supercomputing Centre (JSC) in North Rhine-Westphalia as early as 2024. Its field of application: highly computationally intensive simulations and AI applications in science and industry.

The supercomputer is being built by ParTec, a German company, and Eviden, which belongs to the French IT service provider Atos. EuroHPC JU is procuring the supercomputer, and the Jülich Supercomputing Centre will operate it.

EU covers half of the costs of €500 million

The cost of the system and its operation over an expected period of six years amounts to €500 million. Half is being provided by the European Union. Another two quarters are being financed by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the Ministry of Culture and Science of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

The name Jupiter stands for “Joint Undertaking Pioneer for Innovative and Transformative Exascale Research”. According to Forschungszentrum Jülich, the supercomputer will be the first system in Europe with a computing power of more than one exaflop per second. This corresponds to a trillion operations per second or the computing power of ten million modern notebooks, Jülich calculates.

At the end of last year, the EuroHPC JU in Bologna, Italy, saw the launch of the LEONARDO supercomputer with a computing power of 250 petaflops (250 million billion calculations per second). Most recently, the European Commission inaugurated the Deucalion high-performance computing system in Portugal, which has a computing capacity of ten petaflops. vis

Nils Aldag – the hydrogen pioneer

“I am a realist with a slight tendency toward optimism”, says Nils Aldag. Over the years, however, he has taken on the role of an optimist at Sunfire, says the co-founder and CEO of the Dresden-based electrolysis specialist. This sentence fits the 36-year-old very well. Especially because in 2010, when Sunfire was founded, it still looked as if Aldag and his co-founders were ahead of their time with the topic of green hydrogen. But the tide has since turned: “We are moving in an industry where all arrows are pointing upward”, says the Sunfire CEO. Over the past 24 months, he says, there has been a significant acceleration in the topic of renewable energies.

Then the Hamburg native tells his personal story. He talks about why it is a privilege to come from a family of entrepreneurs. Why, after studying business administration and commercial law, he first sought new perspectives and therefore decided to write his thesis on the subject of renewable energy technologies. And why he came to Sunfire as a “junior” – when Nils Aldag was just 24 years old. He speaks in a punchy, thoughtful manner, with a clear view of the world. And he is extremely modest: “My main concern is to create a sustainable company. I’m not vain, so I don’t care whether this company is still called Sunfire in ten years and whether I’ll still be there as CEO.”

Start-up on the verge of unicorn status

Instead, Aldag has his eye on the big picture. He wants to make Sunfire the “next big success story”. He could be right about that, because the company is already being treated as the hidden champion of the energy transition. After all, the Dresden-based electrolysis specialist has already undergone rapid development – from a start-up to a medium-sized industrial company that, according to media reports, is about to be valued in the billions.

What is Sunfire’s core business? “It’s pretty complex, what we do here. Every machine we build is like a small chemical factory”, says Aldag. Still, he says, the business model can be summed up briefly and understandably: “We build machines – called electrolyzers – that split water into hydrogen and oxygen. To carry out this splitting, we need renewable electricity from sun and wind.”

Green hydrogen as a substitute for crude oil, natural gas and coal

The hydrogen produced with the help of the electrolyzers could be used either in pure form or combined with other molecules to replace everything that is currently produced from crude oil, natural gas and coal. Sunfire’s customers include utilities such as RWE, petroleum companies such as Total, and steel companies such as Salzgitter AG. The ultimate goal is to bring renewable energies everywhere they cannot go in electrical form, thus making natural gas, crude oil and coal superfluous.

What remains at the end of the conversation is this impression: Nils Aldag is not only a pioneer, but also a prototype for a new “green” generation of entrepreneurs. And he is extremely successful. With his company, the founder and entrepreneur is moving into a market that will soon be worth billions. In the EU alone, electrolysis capacities are expected to increase from the current 1,000 megawatts to 40,000 megawatts by 2030. Aldag: “We want to become a champion in this insanely exciting future industry.” Gabriele Voßkühler